SEC Denies Freedom of Information Act Request Regarding Tether Documents –

On September 24, The New Republic staff writer Jacob Silverman tweeted about a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request he submitted that was ultimately denied. On the social media platform, Silverman wrote that he had received responses from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to his FOIA requests and said the responses were "withheld due to possible law enforcement investigations."

Jacob Silverman requested “access to all documents, emails, memos and reports relating to Tether”

Nowadays there are a lot of stablecoins and today all existing stablecoins come with . evaluated $129.7 billion. The oldest stablecoin and the largest in terms of market valuation Tether ( USDT ) has $69.7 billion of the total of all stablecoins. This Friday, a contributor to The New Republic magazine writes, Jacob Silverman He tweeted that he had filed a FOIA request regarding “Tether” and “Tether Operations Limited.”

Essentially, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request allows Americans to access all federal agency records. However, the public cannot gain access to records (or portions of records) when a law enforcement investigation is underway or records are protected by disclosure.

Today, there are approximately three types of exclusions and nine exceptions that a federal agency can use when a records request has been made. In the request, the requester can specify the format and type of data records.

Silverman “sought access to all documents, emails, memos and reports relating to Tether Operations Limited.” The FOIA request can be found Here and Silverman tweeted about the government agency's responses.

“I have received SEC responses to FOIA requests I submitted for information regarding ‘Tether’ and ‘Tether Operations Limited,’” Silverman called. “Withheld due to possible law enforcement investigation,” he added. The SEC's response notes that the agency is claiming an exemption.

“We are withholding records that may respond to your request pursuant to 5 USC § 552(b)(7)(A).” the SEC response Details further. "This exception protects against disclosure records that were created for law enforcement purposes and the release of which could reasonably interfere with enforcement activities. Because Exception 7(A) protects the records from disclosure, we have not determined whether other exceptions apply. Therefore, we reserve the right to assert other exceptions if Exception 7(A) no longer applies." The SEC response adds:

It is the Commission's general policy not to conduct its investigations publicly. Therefore, subject to the provisions of FOIA, the Commission will not disclose the existence or failure of an investigation or information collected unless publicly disclosed in proceedings before the Commission or in court.

Response is different than the response Bennett Tomlin received regarding Tether in February

The response to Silverman does not mean that law enforcement or the federal agency itself intends to charge the company with unlawful activity. Last February, the analyst Bennett Tomlin also filed a FOIA request with the SEC regarding Tether documents, and the letter states that after a thorough search of all SEC systems, the regulator “did not locate or identify any information responsive to your request.”

In response to Silverman's recent inquiry and response, Tomlin tweeted about the FOIA request and said, Hey [Jacob Silverman] you got a different answer than I got a few [of] a few months ago.”

“Which tells us the SEC started doing this sometime between February and now,” Tomlin said. “I don't think [Jay] Clayton thought it was securities, but it seems [Gary] Gensler does,” the analyst completed.

What do you think of the US regulator's response to Jacob Silverman on Tether? Let us know your thoughts on this topic in the comments below.

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